Car-coupling



(No Mod I v GAR. COUPLING No. 511,556. Patented Dec. 26,1893;

snvtoN STU-Mr,- or GREAT BEND, PENNSYLVANIA.

I CAR-COUPLING. j -1.

SPECIFICATION forming part btLetter's ratnt N o e nesanata December 26,1893.

V Appliationfiledtl'nnta 2,1893. Satanic-475.371. camera.) 1

T0 aZZ whom itjitcty-cohccr-nf Be it known thatI, Sill/IONSTUMI, acitizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Great Bend, in the county ofSusquehanna and State' of Pennsylvania, haveinvented certain newanduseful Improvements ,in Gar-Couplers; and I do declare the following tobe a full, clear,

and exact description of the invention, such:

as will enable others 'sk'illed in the art to which it appertains tomakeand use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and'to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part ofthis specifica My invention relates to an improved carcoupling, and ithas special reference tothat class in which a pair of pivot'edorswinging hooks co-operate with a link toconnect the cars, and my objectis to produce a coupler having a combined hook and draw-bar and one inwhich the hook may be easily and effectively operated in spite of thetwo-fold character of its functiom To these ends my inventionconsists-of the peculiar construction and arrangement of the hook andits attached parts.

It also consists of certain peculiarities of construction andcombinations of parts throughout the coupler, all of which'will now befully disclosed and finally embodied in the claim.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

which illustrate my coupler applied as in practical embodiment: Figure 1represents a side elevation partly in section, showing the partscoupled; Fig. 2 a perspective view of the draw-head detached and partlybroken away to disclose the hook. I

The reference letters A, A indicate the contiguous ends of the cars tobe coupled, which may be of any pattern or class, and each'provided withthe platformvA. To each of these cars, one section of the coupler isattached. As each section is an exact duplicate of the other, only onewill be described in detail.

B indicates the drawhead which is arranged within the stirrups B so asto be capable of limited longitudinal movement there in, a shoulder 1)being formed near the outer end of the mouth of the draw-head to preventthe same from being pushed under the car, while excessive outwardmovement is prevented by'the peculiar arrangement of the hook, whichwill hereinafter appear in detail. a

0 represents thehook which is provided at the hook gproper, its forwardend, with a beveled face 0' inclined rearwardly and downwardly so astoglance the incoming link down to the endol' the point 0, preparatory tobeing caught'in thehook and the coupling efi'ected; i

Formed integral with or rigidly secured to the hook at a distance fromits forward end equal to'about one-third the length'of the hook, is apivot or trunnion c, which fits in the open notches or indentations c inthe side of the draw-head. By'this means t-he hook C is pivotally yetpositively connected to move longitudinally with the draw-head. f

Rearward of the trunnion c the shank of the hook is reduced slightly andpasses beyond the innerend'of the draw-head'B. Lo-

cated a'slight distance beyond the inner end equal to about that fromthe inner endof the draw-head to the beam D. Fixed to the extreme innerend of the hook-shank is a washer or stop d, held from rearward movementby tne'ans of;a pin 01 passing through the shank. interposed between thewasher d andthe beam D,is a spiral spring E, held in place by means of astaple embracing one of its coils and passing into the beam. On theremaining or forward side of the beam D, a

similar springE' is arranged,and this spring embraces the shank andbears at its forward end against the washer e, which in turn bearsagainst the inner end of the draw-head B. A staple, similar in formandarrangement to the staple of spring E, is provided for hold ing andsteadying the spring E'.,;. ,Bythis arrangement itwill be seen that arehook and draw-head, being connected to each other,

move longitudinally in unison and that both their forward" and" backwardmovements are cushioned and limited by the springs E and E. 'It willalso be seen that the draw-head and hook will be automatically returnedto their normal positions by the springs E and E after the pressure hasbeen relaxed. The

normal position of the hook G is shown by Fig. 1, such positionoccurring when the hook is lying in nearly a horizontal plane,-and withthe point 0 bearing against the enlarged orifice in the mouth of thedraw-head. This position is efiected and retained by the fiat spring F,which is firmly bolted or riveted to the top of the draw-head at F, andextends forward and slightly downward, its free end engaging the hook Cat a point forward of the pivots c and near its head. The spring F issecured to the outer side of the drawhead and extends through alongitudinally elongated slot G in the top side of the same, by whichits engagement with the book 0 is eifected. The function of the slot Gis twofold: to allow the spring F to engage the hook O, and to providefor the vertical play of the hook duringits operation. To effect theseends the slot is formed in the top side of the head B, itsrearwardextremity extending to a point beyond the fulcrum c of the hook, whileits forward end is far enough front to allow the head of the hook toswing clear of it. The hook C is raised in operation, by means of thetransverse rock-shaft II, journaled in boxes fixed to the ends of thecars and extending beyond each of the sides, where it is provided with aweighted hand lever H which extends normally in a direction diagonal tothe longitudinal disposition of the cars. Formed integral with orsecurely fastened to the shaft H, at a point directly over the hook C,is a crank-arm h, which also extends ,out diagonally, but in a directionopposite to that of the lever 11'. Connected to the free end of thiscrank is a link h which extends downwardly and is connected to the book0 near its front end, by means of an eye or any suitable fasteningdevice 71 Thus it will be seen that owing to the peculiar arrangement ofthe shaft H and its levers and crank, the hook C can be readily'swung onits fulcrum 0 against the tendency of the spring F, to lift the head andrelease the link, from each side of the car, and that by reason of thediagonal disposition of the levers 1-1 and arm it, no dead-center canoccur, which fact is always followed by easy and effective operation.

The preferred construction of my invention having now been set forth, Iwill proceed to describe its mode of operation and use. As beforestated, each car is fitted with dupli cate draw-heads and hookmechanism, and as the draw-heads engage each other, the link, shown atI, enters the flaring mouth of the draw-head B, whereupon it engages theface 0' of the hook C, and is glanced downwardly against the bottom ofthe cavity in the head. As the end continues to move into the head, itpasses under the point e of the hook and finally beyond it. At thisstage the coupling operation is complete; the link may however, continueto move inwardly, and to prevent excessive inward movement, the shoulderB is formed in the cavity of the drawhead. This shoulder extends aroundthe cavity on all sides, and is adapted to operate as a barrier toprevent its further movement. \Vhen the link strikes this shoulder, itsindividual movement ceases and the movement of the draw-head begins, thespring E operating to cushion such movement and to tie crease its energyuntil it is finally stopped by the engagement ofthe stirrup Bandshoulder 1). Then the pressure or shock occasioned by the engagement ofthe cars,has relaxed, the parts assume their normal position under theinfluence of the springs E and E, while the spring E serves to decreasethe shock and jar occasioned by the uneven pulling of the engine orirregularitiesof the track. To uncouple the cars, the lever II is swungoutwardly, which will be followed bythe rocking of the shaft II andliftingof the freeend of the crank-arm h. As the arm h is lifted, thehook is swung on its fulcrum c, against the tendencyof the spring Fandthrough the medium of the link h, and passes through the slot G farenough to allow the link I to pass freely out of the draw-head, therebyuncoupling the cars. When the uncoupling has been effected, the lever11' is released and the parts assume their normal position under theinfluence of the spring F. By reference to the drawings,it will be seenthat the hook 0 forms by its rearwardly elongated end, the draw-bar ofthe coupler, and that the drawhead and bar move longitudinallyin unisonwith each other, thereby permittingall the parts of the coupler toadjust themselves to the movements of the cars. It will also b seen thatthe hook O is free to swingon its fulcrum 0 during the coupling oruncoupling operation, unaflected by the draw-head, and that when soswinging, its elongated rear end will be free to move vertically in theslot D of the beam D. It will still further be seen that the beam Dreceives the draft of the strain, the stirrupsBserving only to supportand retain the draw-head.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is In a car coupling,the combination ofa drawhead having a longitudinal slot formed in itsupper face, a swinging hook arranged within the draw-head and fulcru medso that its head will when raised pass through the slot, a leaf springfixed to the draw-head and operating with the hook to keep it inposition, and a spring connected with the hook, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SIMON STUMP.

\Vitnesses:

B. S. BEEBE, F. T. ROOSA.

